Bucket clean-out mechanism for conveyers



April 12, 1932. w. H. BOSWORTH BUCKET CLEAN-OUT MECHANISM FOR CONVEYERSFiled March 4,- 1931 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR W4 M ATTORNEYS April 12,1932. w. H, BOSWORTH 1,853,717

BUCKET CLEAN-OUT MECHANISM FOR CONVEYERS INVENTORL I 1 v 7mm M11, 4,11%BY v 1 W zg' a C h f 21 ATTORNEYS April 12, 1932. w. H. BOSWORTH BUCKETCLEAN-OUT MECHANISM FOR CONVEYERS Filed March 4, 1951 5 Sheets-Sheet 5MW N mm m INVENTOR ATTORN EYS April 12, 1932. w. H.- BOSWORTH BUCKETCLEAN-OUT MECHANISM FOR CONVEYERS Filed March 1931 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 R OT N V m,

ATTORNEYS April 12, 1932. w. H. BOSWORTH 1,853,717

- BUCKET CLEAN-OUT MECHANISM FOR CONVEYERS Filed March 4, 1931' 5Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR ATTORNEYS Patented Apr. 12, 1932 UNITE stare:

WILLIAIIL I-I.: BOSWORTI-I; F YONKEES NEW YORK, ASSIGN'OR TO GEORGEHAISS-v MANUFACTURING CO. INC., OF 1\TEW YORK,.N..Y., A CORPORATION OFBUCKET CLEAN-OUT Mncnemsm roe convnynns Application filed. Mareh4, 1931.Serial no. 520,003.

This invention: relatesto bucket clean-out mechanism for conveyers, andis herein shown in connection'with an excavator of the type described inUnited States Patent No. ranted February 3, 1931, to Raymond O. I faiss,Wagon loader and excavator.

In the handling of sticky masses of material, such: as .certain kinds ofmud, the buckets of a bucket conveyer become clogged with the material,which, due to its adhesive nature is=held .withinthe buckets, instead ofdischarged by gravity or by centrifugal force and gravity, at thedischargeend of the conveyer, with the result that the operation oftheconveyer is impaired.

The general object of this invention is to provide a simple, reliableand. effective means for-automatically removing the mate rial from thebucketsat the dischargeend 2 of the'conveyersso as tosuccessivelyv'condition the buckets for reception of the mate rial. atthe pick-up end ofithe conveyer.

Other. objects and advantages of i the: in-

vention, will become apparent when taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings,

Fig.1 Lis a; side view of'an excavator of the bucketrconveyer type,having the clean outqnechanism: embodying this inventionassociated'therewith; Fig. 2 is an enlarged View, showing. in elevationthe clean-out mechanism; with the cleaning fingers thereof positioned tobe received by a bucket' as it approaches icleaningvposition; Fig. 3 isa plan view of the mechanism as viewed from above 8 is a diagrammaticview showing the path that the cleaning fingers describe with respect.to a..abucket.vduring a. cleaningoperationa Loaders or excavatorsof'the' type zaboves justablymounted on a traction device 11, by whichthe machine may be propelled from place to place and moved at slow speedto ward and into the materialrto be loaded or excavated, therebeing apowerunit such as entioned includea frame p-b C oy g aninternalcombustion engine,-not;,shown,

employed as a driving means for the traction device as Well as thebucket conveyer 12. This conveyor 12 includes a plurality ofbuckets,13,"carried by aapair' of chains 14;,p-assin'g over pairs ofsprockets 15 andlfi', respectively, the former ofwhich are secured tothe 1111-1.

mediate portion of a shaft 17 suitably journall'ed to thelower end ofthe frame or boom 10'fand the latter of which are 'carriedzbyaheadshaft'18 which is mountedin the usual mannerfor adjustmentlongitudinally of the boom .by adjusting 'means 19,whe'r eby theconnection between the above-mentioned power unit and the-conveyerchains 14, which drive the shaft 17', is such that this shaft isrotatedin the-direction of the arroWA-in Fig. 1, whereby the material to beloaded or excavated is loosened bya plurality of picks 20 carried by theshaft 17 and whereby such loosened material is moved toward and intothe-path of thebuckets 13tobe there picked picked up by-such buckets andcarriedto the I 1 discharge end of theconveyer where itisres leasedordinarily under the-action of gravity and deposited in a loading hopperorchute 21 carried by the boom 10.. v j

,To theiuppe'r ends of the sides of the frame or boom 10, are connecteda pair of supports 22,?such: as angle irons,,.the upper flangesof whichare disposed in a plane parallel to the planein which the head shaft 18"may be adjusted longitudinally of the boom 10 by the adjusting means 19.These supports are connected together :at their outer ends by atransverse frame member 23,. and 'are. reinforced, for-the sake ofrigidity, by a pair of angle brackets 24 suitably connected thereto andto the sides of theframe 10. On the upper flange of the supports 22,.aremounted a pair of angle bearingplates 25' the-lowerfiange of'each ofwhich restsrupon the upper flange ofthere spective supports 22. Thebearing plates 25 are held for longitudinal adjustment on the respectivesupports 22 by a plurality of bolts 26, which extend through the upperflange of the supports 22 and through elongated openings 27 formed inthe lower flange of the bear ing plates. Secured to the vertical flangeof each of the bearing plates 25, is a gusset plate 28 which extendsbelow theupper flange of the respective supports 22. To each of thegusset plates 28, is secured an angle abutment plate 30, the outwardlyprojecting flange- 31 of which carries a rubber cushioning element 32,the function of which will hereinafter more clearly appear. Mounted ineach of the bearing plates 25, is a suitable bearing 33 in which is journalled a transverse shaft 34, the intermediate-portion of which issquare in cross-section, and the opposite ends of which project beyondthe respective bearing plates and are provided with a pair ofsubstantially diametrically opposed arms 35 and 36, the former of whichare connected to tension springs 37 which are anchored to the sides ofthe frame 10. Each of the arms 36 is pivotally connected to a link 38,having an elongated slot 40, which affords a lost-motion connectionbetween the respective arms 36 and a pair of shock-absorbers 41, of aconventional dead beat type, .connected to the abutment plates 30, thelost-motion between the arms 36 and the shock-absorbers being af fordedby reason of the fact that the connecting pins 42, by which the links 38are connected to the torque arms 43 of the shockabsorbers, are slidablewithin the respective slots 40. V

Secured to the squared portion of the transverse shaft 34 andintermediate the bearings 33, are a plurality of clean-out fingers 45which are disposed in an aligned relation and are spaced from eachother. Each of these fingers includes a spade-like end portion 46,adapted to enter the successive buckets at a tangent to a circle struckfrom the center of the head shaft 18 and intersecting the buckets at thepoint of clean-out-finger contact therewith as such buckets arepresented tothe clean-out fingers. This relation of the clean-outfingers to the buckets, at the time the buckets are presented to theclean-out fingers, is necessary in order to insure a head-on contactbetween the entering ends of the fingers and the load in the bucket, itbeing understood that were the fingers un duly pitched forwardly oftheir normal position (Fig. 2), they would be subjected on their rearfaces to the influence of the bucket load and would be pushed out of'theway by the contents of the bucket without being given an opportunity toperform the function for which they are intended. The spadelike endportion 46 of each finger is reinforced along its backby a rib 47,extending longitudinally thereof and terminating in a shank portion 48which is formed integral with a connector plate 50 disposed at rightangles thereto and provided with a shoulder 51. The connector plates 50are adapted to engage one of the flat faces of the square shaft 34,whereas the shoulders 51 of the respective connector plates are adaptedto engage an adjacent face of such shaft as shown most clearly in Fig.7. These cleanout fingers are detachably connected to the shaft 34 by aplurality of of bolts 45, which pass through the connector plates 50 andthe shaft, and by a plurality of bolts 52, which pass through the rearof the connector plates and through the outwardly projecting flange 54of an angle iron 55, which extends substantially throughout the lengthof the squared portion of the shaft 34 and is connected to the same byrivets 56, which pass through that shaft and the other flange of theangle iron 55.

Inasmuch as the clean-out fingers 45 are adapted to be engaged by thebuckets and to enter the same as the buckets move about the sprockets 16at the discharge endof the conveyer, it follows that the above-mentionednormal tangential relation of each such finger to the aforementionedcircle, which is concentric with the head shaft 18, mus be maintainedfor any and all adjustments of such shaft that may be effected by theadjusting means 19; and it also follows that the center of the shaft 34,carryingsuch fingers, must be maintained at a given distance from thecenter of the head shaft 18 100 for any and all adjustments thereof. Tothese ends the shafts 18 and 34 are connected together by a pair ofconnector links 60 which insure the movement of the shaft 34 in adirection corresponding to and of an ex- 1 tent equal to the movement ofthe shaft 18, the two shafts being at all times maintained in fixedparallel planes by reason of the parallel relation of the upper flangesof the supports 22' to the plane of adjustment of the 110 shaft 18.These connector links 60 are pivotally mounted on the adjustablebearings 18' in which the shaft 18 is journalled, and are pivotallyconnected to the bearing plates 25 by bolts 61, which pass through thevertical 15 flanges of the respective bearing plates 25 and the gussetplates 28 secured thereto, it being noted that the link 60 appearing atthe left in Fig. 3 is cut away or recessed,'as shown at 62, so as toprovide a notch through which 126 25, carrying the bearings 33 in whichthe 13c transverse shaft .1 34 is ournalled, to move longitudinally onthe supports22in one di.-. rection or the other. If the shaft. 18 ismoved ina direction to tighten the conveyer chains I I l4,.the'-bearingpl ates'will be caused to correspondingly 1n0ve,:and this is also trueif the shaft is adjusted in: a direction to loosen the conveyer'chains14,: the distance between the shafts 18 and 34 being thus maintainedthesame for all positions of adjustment that may be assumedby the shaft 18.After having adjusted the shaft 18, the bolts 26 are tightened, therebylocking the bearing plates 25.to thesupports22.

In operation, the buckets 13 collect at the pick-up end of the loader orconveyer the material to be handled and carry it along the upper reachof the conveyer chains to the discharge end of the conveyer. As thebuckets 13 successively move over the sprockets 16, the clean-outfingers 45 are engaged by the inner wall of the bucket at the forwardend thereof. By reason of this engagement, the clean-out fingers,together with the shaft 34, move about the axis of the latter againstthe tension of the springs 37 and in so moving they-sweep through thebucket from one position to another in a path indicated diagrammaticallyin Fig. 8, thus removing from the successive buckets any material thatmay, because of its adhesive nature, fail to fall from the buckets bygravity alone as they pass over the sprockets 16 into dumping position.During suchtime as the clean-out fingers sweep through the respectivebuckets, the torque arms 43 of the shock-absorbers 41 move from theirpositions shown in Fig. 4 to their positions shown in Fig. 7, theconnecting pins 42 of the respective torque arms being permitted tomove, in the meantime, from the lower ends of the slots 40 of theconnector links 38 to the other end thereof. As the successive bucketsare disengaged from the clean-out fingers 45, the transverse shaft 34 isrotated by the springs 87 in a reverse direction, thus retracting theclean-out fingers. This reverse movement of the shaft 34 is unrestrainedduring such time as the connector pins 42 of the torque arms 43 movethroughout the length of the slots 40 of the connector links 38, but asthese pins reach the outer end of the slots 40 an operative connectionis established between the torque arm 43 and the connector links, withthe result that the shock-absorbers become effective to decelerate thereturn movement of the shaft, which is finally and positively limited toits position shown in Fig. 2 by engagement of the arms 35 with therubber cushioning elements 32, against which such arms normally rest.

What is claimed is:

1. A. clean-out mechanism for a bucket the" bucket and to penetrate. andsweep through the bucket during such actuation, tension means: forresisting the sweeping movement of said finger and for" returning thesame to its normal position upon com pletion of such movement, andshock-absorbing means for resisting the return of. said finger to itsnormal position.

2. A clean-out mechanism for a bucket conveyer comprising a pivotallymounted clean-out finger adaptedto be actuated by the bucket and topenetrate and sweep through the bucket during such actuation, tensionmeans for resisting the sweeping movement of'said finger and forreturning the same to its normal position upon completion of suchmovement,shockrabsorbing means for resistin'g the return of said fingerto its normal position, andiconnecting means between said finger" andsaid shock-absorbing means operable to render said shock-absorbing meanseffective during only a part ofthe return movement of said finger.

3. The combination with a chain, bucket conveyerincludingf an adjustablehead shaft carrying a: pair of sprockets over which the conveyer chainsoperate, and means for adjusting'saidshaft longitudinally ofthe chainreaches; of a bucket clean-out mechanism comprising a support, a'shaftrotatably and adj ustably mountedon said support, a clean-, out fingersecured to the second shaft and adapted. to b'e actuated. by. a. bucketof the conveyer and to penetrate and. sweepthrough the bucketduring'such actuation, a connection between said. shafts for automaticallymaintaining the latter at a given distance from the. former whileadjustment of the former is being made, tension means for resistingthesweeping movement of said finger the bucket during such actuation, aconnection between said shafts for automatically maintaining the latterat a given distance from the former while adjustment of the former isbeing" made, tension means for resisting the sweeping movement of saidfinger and for returning, the same to its normal position uponcompletion of such movement, and shock-absorbing means associated withthe second-named shaft and automatically movable therewithuponadj'ustment of such shaft and adapted to resist the returnmovementof said finger to its normal position.

5. The combination with a chain bucket conveyer including an adjustablehead shaft carrying a pair of sprockets over which the conveyer chainsoperate, and means for adj usting said shaft longitudinally of the chainreaches; of a bucket clean-out mechanism comprising a support, a shaftrotatably and adjustably mounted on said support, a cleanout fingersecured to the second shaft and adapted to be actuated by a bucket ofthe conveyer and to penetrate and sweep through the bucket during suchactuation, a connection between said shafts for automaticallymaintaining the latter at a given distance from the former whileadjustment of the former is being made, tension means for resisting thesweeping movement of said finger and for returning the same to itsnormal position upon completion of such movement, shock absorbing meansassociated with the secondnamed shaft and automatically movabletherewith upon adjustment of such shaft and adapted to resist the returnmovement of said finger to its normal position, and connecting meansbetween the second-named shaft and said shock-absorbing means operableto render said shock-absorbing means effective during only a part of thereturn movement of said finger.

6. The combination with a chain bucket conveyer including a head shaftmounted for adjustment transversely of itself in a given plane andcarrying a pair of sprockets over which the conveyer chains operate, andmeans for adjusting said shaft in said plane longitudinally of the chainreaches; of a bucket clean-out mechanism comprising a support, a shaftmounted on said support for adjustment transversely of itself in a planeparallel to the plane of adjustment of said head shaft, a clean-outfinger secured to the second shaft and adapted to be actuated by abucket of the conveyer and to penetrate and sweep through the bucketduring such actuation, a connectionbetween said shafts for automaticallymaintaining the latter at a given distance from the former whileadjustment of the former is being made, and tension means for resistingthe sweeping movement of said finger and for returning the same to itsnormal position upon completion of such movement.

7. The combination with a chain bucket conveyer including a head shaftmounted for adjustment transversely of itself in a given plane andcarrying a pair of sprockets over which the conveyer chains operate, ofa bucket clean-out mechanism comprising a support, a shaft mounted onsaid support for adjustment transversely of itself in a plane parallelto the plane of adjustment of said head shaft, a clean-out fingersecured to the sec- 0nd shaft in a fixed normal relation to the WILLIAMH. Bos oRTH,

